Rail firms triple fares by extending rush hour to 11.30am

Train companies are extending rush hour periods in order to increase ticket prices on journeys that used to be classed as off-peak

Increases in peak periods come on top of recent 8% to 13% rises in ticket prices (David Moir)

Train operators are manipulating timetables so the morning “rush hour” continues as late as 11.24am and the evening one begins as early as 2.39pm — enabling them to increase ticket prices on trains that used to provide cheap off-peak travel.

The cost of certain journeys on Virgin Trains has more than tripled. These rises are on top of the 8%-13% increases nodded through by Philip Hammond, the transport secretary, last week.

Virgin Trains now classifies morning peak at Rugby station as from 6.03am to 11.24am. A return fare to London at this time costs £116, compared with £35.80 for off-peak. Midland Mainline offers an £18 return after 9.30am on a slower train.

When Virgin, which recorded profits of £32.5m in the year to March, redesignated its 9.50am service from Birmingham to London as peak, the return fare from Telford to London jumped from £45 to £158.